The MacBook Air (M2) is my choice of everyday laptop. I use it day in, day out and I absolutely adore it. Sure, there are a couple of things it could improve on but on the whole, it’s a superb laptop. It might be about to lose its crown however, because there’s a new MacBook Air in town and it’s not only more powerful, but the price has surprisingly dropped too.
The MacBook Air has crept up in price over the last couple of years, moving it from almost affordable to pretty expensive. The MacBook Pro you expect to be pricey, but the Air has always been aimed at the everyday user. Seeing the price of the new MacBook 13-inch fall by £50 compared to the 2022 predecessor and the 15-inch model drop by £100 is huge news in itself. It doesn’t take them under the £1,000 mark but the 13-inch model is very close now.
What’s changed in the new MacBook Air?
Aside from the price, the latest MacBook Air has been given the M3 processor treatment. The M3 is the latest silicon chip from Apple, first appearing on the iMac in October 2023. The MacBook Pro was updated last year with M3 Pro and M3 Max variants of the processor, leaving the MacBook Air waiting.
That day has now arrived, with the cheapest MacBook now running a 3nm chip with an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU and support for up to 24GB memory. It is claimed to be 60 per cent faster than the M1 MacBook Air and 13 times faster than an Intel-based model. Apple hasn’t offered a comparison against the M2 MacBook Air, but you are unlikely to upgrade from the MacBook Air M2 to the MacBook Air M3 as the performance of the M2 is still more than adequate and the design hasn’t changed.
IMAGE CREDIT: APPLE
The latest MacBook Air retains the aluminium, symmetrical body that we saw in 2022 and 2023. The MacBook Air M1 still offers the wedge design, which the Air offering since 2008 so there is a chance that if you’re considering the upgrade to the M3 Air and you are on an older Air, that you will benefit from the new design alongside the performance improvements.
The M3 chip means the MacBook Air M3 supports hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing for those who enjoy gaming on their laptop, while there is also support for AV1 decode, which offers more efficient and higher-quality video experiences from streaming services.
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It is claimed to be 60 per cent faster than the M1 MacBook Air and 13 times faster than an Intel-based model.
Elsewhere, there is support for up to two external displays, and there’s also faster Wi-Fi with support for WiFi 6E – just keep in mind you will need a compatible router to make use of that.
What hasn’t changed?
Everything else remains the same as the MacBook Air M2 models. The same four colours are on offer – Midnight, Starlight, Space Grey and Silver – and the same Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Trackpad occupy the fanless base.
The battery life sticks at 18-hours, and based on my experience from the MacBook Air M2 model, I have high hopes this remains an accurate estimate. The MacBook Air M2 has a superb battery life so if the M3 model retains this, whilst offering speed enhancements, faster Wi-Fi and support for two external displays, it’s likely there will be very little to complain about.
IMAGE CREDIT: APPLE
The two size options both offer a Liquid Retina display with up to 500 nits of brightness and support for 1 billion colours, while both retain the notch at the top incorporating a 1080p FaceTime HD camera. The ports are the same too with MagSafe 3 for charging, two Thunderbolt ports for connecting accessories or dongles, and a 3.5mm headphone jack for those who want to use wired headphones rather than opting for AirPods or Bluetooth headphones.
The MacBook Air M3 is available to pre-order from Apple from 4 March and it will go on sale on 8 March. The MacBook Air 13.6-inch model starts at £1,099, while the MacBook Air 15.3-inch models starts at £1,299. Both can be configured with up to 2TB SSD.
